RHS sports recap: Friday, Oct. 25

Cross country: RHS boys 2nd/13, girls 6th/12 WIAA Sectionals

For the second time in four years, the Rhinelander High School boys’ cross country team has qualified for the WIAA state meet. 

The Hodags did it by placing five runners in the top 40 and finished second Friday in a WIAA Division 2 meet in Colby. The Hodags finished only 10 points behind meet champion New London and finished 15 ahead of GNC champ Lakeland for the second and final qualifying spot. 

Senior Greyson Gremban and sophomore Avrom Barr would have been fast enough to make it on their own, finishing third and fourth overall, both clocking in under 17 minutes. Brody Kowieski bounced back from a DNF at last week’s conference race to finish 15th, Jackson Weinzatl was 24th and Ayden Myers finished 40th. 

The Hodags narrowly missed having two girls join the boys squad at state. Macy Myers was eighth overall and Brynn Teter finished ninth as the Hodag girls placed sixth as a team. Myers missed qualifying for state by one position and 7.3 seconds while Teter was two spots and 10.8 seconds out of a state berth. 

Sophie Miljevich was 37th, Gretchen Wiebke was 45th and Hayley Schiek took 46th to round out Rhinelander’s top five. 

The WIAA Division 2 state meet will take place next Saturday in Wisconsin Rapids. 

Girls’ swimming: Rhinelander 1st/8, GNC Meet

The Rhinelander High School girls’ swimming team laid claim to its sixth straight Great Northern Conference championship on Friday, winning eight of 11 events to take the GNC Meet in Colby.

Celia Francis individually won the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 backstroke for Rhinelander, Vivian Lamers won the 50 freestyle, June Chiamulera won the 100 freestyle and Ella Heck claimed the 100 breaststroke. Rhinelander also won all three relays — Francis, Heck, Ellyse Younker and Lily Throsen took the 200 medley relay; Heck, Millie Gruett, Thorsen and Lamers took the 200 freestyle relay and Younker, Chiamulera, Lamers and Francis won the 400 freestyle relay.

In all Rhinelander claimed 22 out of 33 possible spots in the all-conference team and had at least one top-two finish in every race. 

The Hodags are idle until the WIAA Division 2 sectional meet in Menomonie Nov. 9.

Full reports will be published in Tuesday's River News.